Greatest white elephants of military history

[Inst]

Han Wudi is credited with driving the Xiong Nu off their land. troung [sic] claims that Han Wudi's expeditions were a failure, but he didn't cite sources for his assertation, which is contrary to the received wisdom.

[Inst]

The Great Wall is questionable. It failed the against the Mongols, but the sections around Beijing successfully held off the Manchus, see Battle of Ningyuan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia . The Manchus only got into China once the Ming Dynasty fell to peasant rebels; the Ming general in charge of Shanhai gate got pissed off because the rebels seized his concubine so he decided to let the Manchus deal with the rebels.

[RustyBattleship]

The great wall is something I forgot to add. Thank you!

There was a special on Satellite TV a few weeks ago about the Great Wall. Actually, it's not just one wall as several other walls were built by different dynasties but all still in the same general area. Methods of construction were different including one that was actually two parallel walls filled with dirt so farmers could cultivate their crops in it.

A couple of the earlier walls were breached by invaders. Others, including the famous Great Wall, had trade exchange gates where people inside and outside could pass through with ease. Or breach with ease if they wanted to.

But by that time no outsiders ever attacked the wall because the insiders went outside and assimilated the outsiders.

So, in the long (long, long) run the Great Wall was a masterpiece of construction but as usefull as a milk bucket underneath a bull.

[dave lukins]

Han Wudi is credited with driving the Xiong Nu off their land. troung [sic] claims that Han Wudi's expeditions were a failure, but he didn't cite sources for his assertation, which is contrary to the received wisdom.

An interesting character;)

Han Wudi

just press cancel and you're in

[tankie]

The great wall is something I forgot to add. Thank you!

UK had a / has a wall built to keep out the marauding Jocks from stealing our whisky and raping our sheep , Hadrians wall from Jarrow (Newcastle ) to Carlisle .All the Roman soldiers who were on jankers got sent to it ,nightmare alley they called it , second stag was the worst 2 till 4 in the morning and if the world could have grown piles thats where they would have been .:))

[Skywatcher]

The German four engined bomber prototypes also come to mind, but mostly due to the mis allocation of resources than anything else.

The V-2s, while nice, really didn't have much of an outcome on the war.

[American Empire]

[QUOTE=Skywatcher;518795]

The V-2s, while nice, really didn't have much of an outcome on the war.

The V-2 was a real breakthrough in engineering but it like you said pretty much useless.

[Tarek Morgen]

but it did had a great impact of what happened AFTER the war.

[Skywatcher]

but it did had a great impact of what happened AFTER the war.

But not for the Germans themselves, though. It would certainly be a white elephant from their point of view.

[Skywatcher]

There's also the Y-10.

[Triple C]

Han Wudi is credited with driving the Xiong Nu off their land. troung [sic] claims that Han Wudi's expeditions were a failure, but he didn't cite sources for his assertation, which is contrary to the received wisdom.

I believe that the official Chinese court historian Si Ma Chian (司馬遷) criticized Wudi's compaign as an extravagant failure and the dire straights of the empire after Wu's death seem to have concurred with this view.

[GraniteForge]

Actually, one Maus was deployed but it sunk in a pond with a very soft muddy bottom. The Germans blew it up so the Russians wouldn't get it. Though the turret was blown off the hull, it remained intact.

The Russians recovered the turret and put it in their tank museum. When they took over the factory, they found the finished hull of the second one, but with no turret. So, that hull went to the museum and the two mated together and are now on display in Kubinka.

That's interesting. I haven't seen any tank displays in Russia outside of visiting the Red Army Museum in Soviet days, certainly haven't been to Kubinka.

Two operational hulls, one with a proper turret, is what I was told by Germans who were around at the end. This is supported by the Maus page on the Achtung Panzer! site Achtung Panzer! - Maus, which says that it was a third hull that was captured along with the second turret at the Krupp factory. Note that the information on this page is without attribution, but the site is overall quite accurate.

[Skywatcher]

It's possible that someone misidentified that 'third Maus' when in reality it could have just been a Jadgtiger. Though there are plenty of other explanations.

[American Empire]

but it did had a great impact of what happened AFTER the war.

True but it didn't do much for the Germans.

[tankie]

.

The V-2s, while nice, really didn't have much of an outcome on the war.

But a great impact on moral for the Londoners , and the beginning of space travel , and a secure future for German engineers .